Along the right path?

D

davidtcb1

AC Members
Aug 20, 2004
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Nashville TN area
Hello all:

Just wanted to run my "end of first week" report by you to see if everything sounds good!

Details:

- 75 gallon freshwater
- Tank is now 12 days operational - 8 days with starter fish (6 red eye tetras, 6 blue longfin danios)
- pH still around 7.5 and trying to get to neutral.
- nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, gh, kh all ideal based on test kit suggestions. kh high due to high pH
- some small algae spots forming on sides of tank in last day or two (clean or leave?)
- did a 20% water change after first full week with fish and cleaned gravel. fish still seem happy and healthy.

Does this sound ok? Next move(s)?

Thanks!
David
 
nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, gh, kh all ideal based on test kit suggestions. kh high due to high pH
Click to expand...

I doubt your tank has cycled yet after 8 days with fish. Have you been testing frequently, even daily? What you should should see is your ammonia level will start to climb due to fish waste. Then you will detect nitrite as bacteria eats your ammonia and converts it to nitrite, and your ammonia level will begin to drop. After your nitrites start climbing, you'll detect nitrates as new bacteria that eats nitrite converts it to nitrate. Once your ammonia and nitrite levels have dropped back to zero, your tank has cycled. The process can take between 3-6 weeks if you don't have any filter media from an established tank.

Keep monitoring the water chemistry levels and do water changes when they get too high. Don't add anymore fishes until the tank is cycled.

Regarding the high PH, if you're reducing the PH by using an alternative water source then that's fine but I wouldn't mess with any additives to adjust the PH. I'd rather have a high PH than one that may fluctuate because I forgot to treat the water.
 
Clean the algae off with an algae scraper, before doing a water change.

The ammonia levels are low (as are the others) due to very low fish stocking levels. Make sure if you are adding new fish to add them very slowly, up to 2 weeks apart for larger fish, or a few small ones a week. But unless you current readings are 0 ammonia and nitrite then I would not add any new fish until they are (take a reading 24 hours after a water change).

Kh is not high due to high pH but due to lots of carbonates in the water. This often will lead to a high pH but these 2 numbers do not always travel together.

What are you planning on adding to the tank?
 
Sounds like you're doing great. I do have a few questions. When you say "pH still around 7.5 and trying to get to neutral", what exactly does that mean? Are you adding chemicals to get the ph down? I'm only asking because I think some chemicals that change the ph can also do funky things to the water chemistry... I always say try to get fish that fit the ph of your water, rather than try to change it, but that's jmvho.

"nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, gh, kh all ideal based on test kit suggestions. kh high due to high pH"
Can you give exact readings?

As far as the algae goes... how much/often are you feeding the fish? Do you leave your tank lights on a long time? Does the tank get a lot of direct sunlight? You can get an algae scraper (kind of looks like a squeegee) at your lfs, or you can even use a credit card to scrape it off the glass. If your tank gets a lot of direct sunlight during the day, you may want to try closing blinds or even putting a towel over the tank during peak sunlight times. You could also get an algae eater :)

Sounds like you're doing great so far! I would do more of a water change (closer to 50%), but again, that's jmvho!!

~Tara
 
I understand that the tank would not cycle in a week's time...I am prepared to give it the full 3-6 weeks. I have been testing every couple days but will start doing them daily. As for the pH, I will not add any more additives until the cycle is complete and see what happens. I've been told the pH will drop at this point anyway.

Thanks!
 
A couple of things that will help us help you.
What are the actual test kit numbers. Ideal should be 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, kh 3dkh or higher etc. Neumbers make it much easier for us to know your situation.

I'm a bit concerned about your comments on the ph. are you doing something to try to lower it? Playing with PH especially trying to lower it is usually not a good thing. your KH will dictate/ control your ph to some extent Ph does not control KH. In almost every case it is much better to have a stable ph than to try to target an ideal Ph. For instance my fish prefer 6.8-7.0, my tank is staedy at 7.8-8.0 and the fish are quite happy and healthy.

Assuming low ammonia and nitrite (they won't stay at zero during a fishy cycle) but should be kept as low as possible with water changes) you are probably doing fine. As far as the algea, get rid of it whenever you can. and unless you are running a planted tank, turn your lights off as much as possible to stem the algea growth. next step is keep doing water changes and let the cycle finish estabilishing itself (probably another 2-3 weeks). then increas stock very slowly until the desired level is reached 1 or 2 fish per week, while testing and monitoring. With a fishy cycle, you should test the ammonia and nitrite every day and do water changes to keep these numbers @ or below 1ppm ammonia and 0.5ppm nitrite. this will help your fish, until the cycle is estabilished. Once you get consistant 0 ppm on both without a water change then the cycle is estabilished.
HTH
Dave

Dave
 
Thanks for the advice...

Have the algae scraper and will use that on the sides. I have been keeping the light on quite a bit during the day and off during the night.

As of yesterday, ammonia was 0, pH at 7.5, nitrite at 0.3, GH 7, KH 13.

As for the pH levels, I was adding a neutralizer to get the pH closer to neutral, but think I should hold off to see what naturally happens as the cycle continues.

David
 
You will want to test you pH out of the tap and then after it sits in a bowl over night. Often it can change by itself.

Without plants in the tank 6-8 hours of light is fine, so the fish have a day cycle.

Sounds liek the tank is well on its way to cycling but keep that nitrite down. And remember that after the tank is cycled initially it will only be cycled to the level of fish that are in the tank and each addtion adds a new mini cycle.

Also don't start changing filter media either. That will only lead to a new cycle as well. Just wash out the old filter media every so often (once a month for canisters, every couple of weeks for HOB's) in old tank water. Saves a lot of money and keeps the tank cycled better.
 
I do have three plants in the tank which are growing well and rapidly. I just retested the nitrite and it is below 0.3, lower than yesterday. I have an Emperor 400 and will just rinse the filter pads out when the time comes.

Thanks!

David
 
Tara, I'm feeding the fish twice per day. The tank isn't getting direct sunlight. The room does have windows, but with heavy blinds. I plan on getting an algae eater once the cycle is finished and I begin adding fish.

David
 
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